18/03/2026
Fun Facts about Thornicroft’s giraffe
🦒 🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒
Here’s what makes them special:
🌿 Thornicroft’s giraffes are a distinctive
endemic sub species of giraffe found ONLY in the Luangwa Valley in eastern Zambia.
🌿 They are completely isolated from other giraffe populations by natural barriers like the Luangwa River, which has limited their gene flow over thousands of years.
🌿 Their coats have large, irregular, star-shaped patches with creamy backgrounds. The pattern looks more ragged and scribbled compared to the cleaner shapes of Masai or Rothschild’s giraffes.
🌿 They often appear a bit paler overall, especially in strong Luangwa sunlight.
They were named Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti after British commissioner Harry Scott Thornicroft, who worked in the region in the early 1900s.
🌿 They thrive in the riverine woodlands and mopane forests typical of South Luangwa.
🌿 They are browsers and love feasting on acacia and other trees, using their long tongues to strip leaves from the regions most other animals cannot reach. They don’t even seem to mind the thorns!
🌿 You’ll often see them moving in groups, collectively known as journeys or towers, especially along the riverbanks. Nothing beats that sunset giraffe silhouette!
🌿 Whilst their population is relatively small (a few thousand individuals) they are thankfully considered stable thanks to strong protection within South Luangwa and surrounding reserves.
🌿 Because they exist in such a limited range, they are quite vulnerable to habitat change or disease outbreaks. So we protect them fiercely!
Guests at Carmines River Lodge should see a lot of these beautiful endemic giraffes in the area surrounding the lodge.
Definitely one for the “safari specials” bucket list!
